Two good Samaritan vessels rescued the crew of a Chinese car carrier after an engine-room fire broke out aboard the ship while it was sailing in the Eastern Pacific, hundreds of nautical miles from the nearest coastline.
At around 1300 hours on Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard received a distress alert via the Inmarsat Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) from the Min Jiang Kou, located approximately 600 nautical miles southeast of Costa Rica’s Pacific coast.
The vessel was nearing the end of a Pacific crossing from Tianjin, China, to Manta, Ecuador, when its crew reported the engine-room fire and issued a distress call.
The Coast Guard got in touch with the shipmanager, who reported that the crew had used the CO2 flooding system for the engine room in an attempt to extinguish the fire. This appeared to work at first, but as a precautionary measure the Coast Guard reached out to nearby merchant shipping using the AMVER system to request assistance.
At about 2330 on Thursday night, Min Jiang Kou's crew reported that smoke aboard the vessel had increased. The master directed the crew to abandon ship into the lifeboats, but remained aboard himself to monitor the situation.
Two good Samaritan vessels, the bulker Jin Hai Ping and tanker Degu, answered the Coast Guard's request for assistance and arrived shortly on scene. Jin Hai Ping recovered the 22 crewmembers from the lifeboats and brought them all safely aboard by 1220 hours Friday afternoon. The merchant ship will deliver all of them to shore upon her arrival at Akita, Japan. The vessel is coordinating with American salvor Resolve Marine on next steps for a safe recovery.
"The willingness of fellow mariners to answer a distress call reminds us of the extraordinary commitment the maritime community shares to protecting life at sea," said Capt. Jessica Davila, Southwest District chief of incident management. "This rescue highlights the strength of international partnerships, and the vital role coordination plays in ensuring mariners in distress receive timely assistance."
Source: The maritime executive
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